The Red Elvises are a Russian-American band that performs rock and roll, su… Read Full Bio ↴The Red Elvises are a Russian-American band that performs rock and roll, surf, rockabilly, reggae, lounge and traditional Russian styles of music. Believing that one cannot go wrong with "The King" Elvis Presley as an inspiration and with "red" being not only their favorite color but the national color of their native country, the band name Red Elvises was created.

The Red Elvises were founded in 1995 by Igor Yuzov and Oleg Bernov, two Russians living in Los Angeles, California. Igor and Oleg met during a Russian-American peace walk and subsequently played together in a Russian folk-rock band called Limpopo. The band’s third original member, guitarist Zhenya Kolykhanov (he later legally changed his last name to “Zhenya Rock”), had also emigrated to America and had been spending time playing in Texas. For the first few months Andrey Baranov was the band’s drummer, but within that year, the first American in the band, drummer Avi Sills from Austin, Texas, was added to the lineup. The four of them got their start playing on Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade.

When they weren’t playing on the road they were busy recording and self-producing their own CDs. Grooving to the Moscow Beat was the band's first release in 1996, followed by Surfing in Siberia in 1997. In 1998, the band released their breakthrough CD, I Wanna See You Bellydance. Their music filled the soundtrack of Lance Mungia’s independent film released in 1998, Six-String Samurai, a film in which they also had small roles and screen credits. With Mungia directing, the band also produced two music videos of songs from the Six-String soundtrack, Lovepipe and Boogie on the Beach, that year. A full-length concert video, Live on the Pacific Ocean was also released, showcasing their appearance at the Santa Monica Pier’s Twilight Summer Concert Series.

The small screen also beckoned with television show appearances, resulting in Red Elvises’ guest spot in an episode of the now-defunct Fox television series Melrose Place (Episode #206, "Suspicion") which aired on November 9, 1998. Near the end of that year they appeared on FX’s Penn & Teller’s Sin City Spectacular accompanied by Penn & Teller’s show dancers, which aired in January 1999. They released three new recordings in 1999, two studio-produced and one live. The band's fourth and fifth studio albums, Better Than Sex and Russian Bellydance, a Russian language version of their smash album I Wanna See You Bellydance from the previous year, were both released in March 1999. Later in that same month Red Elvises’ performance im San Francisco was released as the band's first live double album, Live At The Great American Music Hall.

In the summer of 1999 the FX television channel hired Red Elvises to play in Malibu on the beach for their Beverly Hills 90210 Swimsuit Beach Party highlighting a marathon airing of syndicated episodes of the hit series. FX held and flew the winners and ten of their friends to the beach party to appear on TV and dance to the band’s music. February 2000 heralded a brief change in musical direction for the band with the release of their seventh CD, Shake Your Pelvis, a more electronic techno/disco style CD that greatly differed from their earlier releases. December 2000 also saw an end to Avi Sills’ association with the band with his decision to move on to other musical opportunities.

The band persevered as an all-Russian three-piece during 2001 with Bernov giving up the big red balalaika bass and taking over much of the drumming. In March two new studio CDs were released, Welcome to the Freakshow, written entirely by Yuzov, and Bedroom Boogie, written entirely by Rock. The band continued their non-stop touring across America throughout the year and also toured their native Russia.

In 2002 Rokenrol was recorded entirely in Russian with the exception of two songs, Juliet by Yuzov and Sunshine by Rock, both sung in English. Rock began a side project, Zeerok, going in a completely different musical direction, and by the end of the year decided to commit to his new band full time, announcing his departure from Red Elvises. The band kept busy during the summer months with a tour through Russia that included some filming for the upcoming film Mail Order Bride, a romantic action comedy starring Danny Aiello, Vincent Pastore, Ivana Milocevich, and Robert Capelli, Jr., returning home in August to record the soundtrack. The band also returned to television with an appearance playing themselves in an episode of the Fox action series Fastlane (Episode #3 "Gone Native").

In 2003 Yuzov switched back to guitar, this time on lead, and Bernov returned to the large bass balalaika. Completing the new lineup were another Russian, Oleg "Schramm" Gorbunov on keyboards and accordion and new American drummer Adam Gust. In 2005 they were asked to perform in the Moscow Live8 concert, along with the Pet Shop Boys and a number of local performers. In 2006 Elena Shemankova from Moscow, the first female to ever play with Red Elvises, joined the band on keyboards and was very well received. Later that year they were joined by female guitarist Beth Garner from Texas, who continued to tour with them until the end of 2007.

In 1999 and 2002 the Red Elvises released CDs in Russian, which were very well received in Russia. Subsequently they have been invited to perform there every summer, and they spend a couple of months playing in clubs in larger cities such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg, as well as Yuzov's hometown of Odessa in the Ukraine.

The band's line-up is slightly different in Russia than in North America, and features many Russian musicians who are hired specifically for that tour.

Discography
* Give Us A Break (as Limpopo) — 1995
* Grooving To The Moscow Beat — 1996
* Surfing In Siberia — 1997
* I Wanna See You Bellydance — 1998
* Six-String Samurai soundtrack — 1998
* Russian Bellydance — 1999 (in Russian language)
* Better Than Sex — 1999
* Live At The Great American Music Hall — 1999 (live album)
* Shake Your Pelvis — 2000
* Bedroom Boogie — 2001 (written and performed by Zhenya Rock)
* Welcome To The Freakshow — 2001 (written and performed by Igor Yuzov)
* Rokenrol — 2002 (in Russian language except for two songs)
* Lunatics and Poets — 2004
* 30 Greatest Hits - 2007 (greatest hits compilation)
* Drinking With Jesus - 2008

www.redelvises.com/

Rocket Man
Red Elvises Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Looking at Earth through telescope
My spaceship is clean, and I love my job.
Music of space crawls in my ear;
I'm dreaming of girls and six-pack of beer.

4....3....2....1....

I AM A ROCKET MAN!

Be-bop-a-lulah
I AM A ROCKET MAN!
Sha-la-la-la-la
(Repeat)

Saturday night tastes just like Monday morning.
Nobody's here; I'm lonely and horny.
Voices of stars turning me on,
I want to have sex, it's time to fly home.

I AM A ROCKET MAN!
Be-bop-a-lulah
I AM A ROCKET MAN!
Sha-la-la-la-la
(Repeat)

(Guitar solo)

I AM A ROCKET MAN!
Be-bop-a-lulah
I AM A ROCKET MAN!
Sha-la-la-la-la

I AM A ROCKET MAN!

Overall Meaning

The Red Elvises' song "Rocket Man" tells the story of a man who is living his dream as a rocket man. He looks down at Earth through a telescope and feels content with his job as his spaceship is clean. The music of space crawls in his ear, and he dreams of girls and a six-pack of beer. The chorus of the song declares him the rocket man as he counts down to his launch.

However, Saturday night tastes just like Monday morning to him. He feels lonely and horny as nobody is around. The voices of stars turn him on, and he contemplates having sex before it's time to fly back home. The guitar solo adds more intensity to the already high energy of the song. The final chorus repeats the proclamation of being the rocket man.

Overall, the song is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the glamorized concept of what it means to be a rocket man. While he enjoys his job, he still experiences the mundane aspects of life and cannot escape the need for companionship and human connection.

Line by Line Meaning

Looking at Earth through telescope
I'm gazing at the planet from high up in the sky.

My spaceship is clean, and I love my job.
I take good care of my spacecraft and enjoy being an astronaut.

Music of space crawls in my ear;
I'm hearing the sounds of outer space.

I'm dreaming of girls and six-pack of beer.
I'm fantasizing about having a good time with women and drinking beer.

4....3....2....1....
The countdown to launch is beginning.

I AM A ROCKET MAN!
I'm an astronaut on a journey through space.

Be-bop-a-lulah
This is a vocalization of excitement and joy.

Sha-la-la-la-la
Same as previous line.

(Repeat)
The chorus is being repeated.

Saturday night tastes just like Monday morning.
I'm feeling lonely and bored without anyone to spend time with.

Nobody's here; I'm lonely and horny.
I'm alone and sexually aroused.